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Varieties of digitalisation? A comparison of employment services digitalisation in the UK and Australia
Ingold, Jo Forde, Chris Robertshaw, David
Ingold, Jo
Forde, Chris
Robertshaw, David
Abstract
This article examines the digitalisation of employment services in the UK and Australia, countries that have been on similar policy trajectories with respect to the development of quasi-markets and increased digitalisation. The article deploys comparative mixed methods comprising surveys of employment service providers and interviews with providers and technology developers in both countries to analyse the extent of, forms and challenges around digitalisation across both countries. The survey data analysis suggested considerable similarities in the UK and Australia regarding the drivers of digitalisation and the tasks which were digitalised. However, the interview data highlighted some differences between the two countries, including the persistence of face-to-face delivery in the UK compared with accelerated digitalisation in Australia. In both countries, there were clear differing motivations between stakeholder communities (policymakers and developers), which providers had to negotiate.
Keywords
Australia-overseas comparisons, digital technology, employment policy, privatisation, social welfare
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Australian Journal of Social Issues
Book
Volume
Issue
Page Range
1-17
Article Number
ACU Department
Peter Faber Business School
Faculty of Law and Business
Faculty of Law and Business
Collections
Relation URI
DOI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2024 The Authors. Australian Journal of Social Issues published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Social Policy Association.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.